


And when tomorrow comes along...

by DatPersonaUser



Series: A Fool's Mark [2]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Goro Akechi's angsty life, Just not in Goro's mind, Kinda sad but not really, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, The others are there, no beta we die like men, the pair to A Fool's Mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22973509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DatPersonaUser/pseuds/DatPersonaUser
Summary: In a world where you find your soulmate by touching them, Goro hates the concept of soulmates after his mother died and he hated Kurusu Akira for looking at him like he's looking for something. Though when Goro felt the burn he couldn't deny it anymore.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: A Fool's Mark [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650940
Comments: 7
Kudos: 94





	And when tomorrow comes along...

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from [this Shuake mv with Kenshi Yonezu singing in the bacground](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFtc2CB-JkI%22). So you guessed it, this is the companion piece to [this thing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262136) and a part of a bigger future AU I have planned. Have fun!

Goro had always known.

He knew how people tend to obsess over their soulmates and wasted their whole lives waiting and/or searching for them. Goro remembered his younger self, sitting on his mother’s lap as she told him stories of couples that met and got together with their soulmates and he remembered wondering if he would have that kind of person someday too.

His mother smiled softly and nodded, ‘ _of course, Goro-chan.’_

And then she died and he didn’t want to talk or even _think_ about soulmates ever again.

When he joined the police force, he’s grateful for the gloves. He pulled it, secured a bit too tight that it hurts his fingertips and thought that it’s better that way.

One of the people he killed for Shido had a soul mark on his elbow, looked as if the other person grabbed him very harshly. Goro had laughed together with that man, who told him that his wife wouldn’t be happy about it.

Goro didn’t hesitate to pull his trigger.

He thought it’s ridiculous.

\--

Goro speculated.

Speculated that Akira Kurusu, the leader of the _notorious_ Phantom Thieves, was his soulmate, judging from the way their minds wrapped around each other so perfectly. How the younger boy’s kindness made his chest tight with both _want_ and _disgust._ From the way his heart begged him to reconsider all his plans and _submit_. From the way his nights were filled with fantasies of coffee and soft laughter to parry the daggers and taunting smirk.

And he speculated that Kurusu suspected something, from the way the younger boy glanced at his gloves every chance he got and absent-mindedly reaching out to him in an attempt to _touch something._

Whenever that happened Goro would smile, laden his evasions with a ~~fake~~ sweet smile and asked if there’s something he needed. Kurusu would avert his eyes and reply with something half-assed like “no, you did a good job today, Crow.”

Or he would ask Goro if he’d like to join the Thieves to eat dinner somewhere to which he would politely decline and watched the disappointment across those steel eyes disappearing without a trace under the thick frames of his glasses.

“Another time, then.”

Goro always pulled his gloves tighter around his hands then, hurting his fingertips in the process, yet satisfied to know that it will be the only burn he’ll ever feel.

\--

Goro thought.

He thought that Akira Kurusu, the leader of the _notorious_ Phantom Thieves, was not dead. After all, he had shot the younger boy about an hour earlier yet he didn’t feel the alleged pain after one’s soulmate died.

He thought maybe Akira wasn’t his soulmate after all.

For some reason, the thought itself pained him more than the thought that he might have killed his soulmate.

\--

There’s a weird sense of relieve when he confronted the Phantom Thieves in the engine room. It felt like a sliver of hope had shown its face, though whether it was the expectation of someone to defeat Shido, or his hidden hope to have Akira as his soulmate, he didn’t know.

“Under different circumstances, we could have been great rivals… Or perhaps even friends.”

Or maybe…

“Your heart is always free—” he let himself rattle on. He mustn’t think of the outcome. Tell him how lucky he is. Tell Akira all of his plans. Tell Akira of his painful and bitter past. Show him how Goro is nothing on the inside. Just an empty husk of anger and jealousy. Tell him all the words he spits out when the frustration takes him.

He summoned Loki when his taunts didn’t work.

There's no taking them back now, he knows that.

His heart—or what was left of it anyway—screamed at him to stop. Just join them. Join him while he has the chance. But pride and anger overpowered his heart’s plea, and Loki took away his rationale. It’s like being swallowed and he allowed it.

The next thing he knew, he’s staggering backwards and Akira was running towards him, gloves abandoned. For a split second Goro thought he was going to be punched in the face, but then his helmet was pushed away and Akira put his bare hands on his neck.

And suddenly everything was clear.

\--

It _burned._ The hands on his throat burned hotly like he’s holding a steaming cup of coffee with bare hands. He knew what it meant— God does he know what it meant. He looked directly to Akira’s stormy eyes, full of emotion from the way their skin meet. Goro wanted to push the younger boy away—his _soulmate_ , his treacherous mind supplied—push him away and shoot him in the head to even the scores.

He opened his mouth, ready to snarl, growl, say something! Yet Akira beat him to it, “Come with us, please.” Any other day and Goro would revel at the way Akira said those words. He didn’t ask. He _begged_ and Goro wanted to say _no_ , just to hit Akira with refusal one more time. Tell him that no, Goro doesn’t want to be his soulmate.

But he’s just… so tired.

Tired of waiting, hoping, wanting.

Tired of all the hatred and anger that choked him even in his sleep.

For once in a while, he wants to stay close to the heat Akira’s radiating. To just be swallowed by something else other than revenge.

He had wanted to say yes.

\--

Goro didn’t get to have his revenge.

But Akira promised to do it in his place.

His soulmate will do what he couldn’t.

His soulmate.

His soulmate.

His.

Akira—

\--

_10 years later, Inaba._

Gorowalked past the school gate and looked to the sky. The new semester had just started and the young man enjoyed the hustle-bustle of yet another new year. He’s starting his 3rd year of middle school yet he didn’t feel the pressure of being a third year. Instead, he felt giddy. Not for leaving school next year, but for something unknown.

For as long as he’s known it, he’s chasing something. The feeling of losing something he didn’t know; that unsettling feeling on the bottom of his stomach that sent him looking. His father said that it might be a sign that he’s ready for a soulmate but Goro shrugged it off. It’s not like he didn’t believe in soulmates. His fathers are soulmates (Their marks on their hands like they were shaking hands when it happened.)

It’s just that if it was a sign that he’s ready for a soulmate, wouldn’t it be too early for him? He’s only 15 after all. If he were to find his soulmate as his fathers’ said, then what would they do? It’ll be great if they were the same age, what if his soulmate is older? Or younger? What do you do with the time that’s left?

He wouldn’t have a clue.

He walked down the river bank and kept his eyes on the trees surrounding him. The cherry blossoms have bloomed for a while now and he thought about asking his parents to go on a _hanami_ while they still have the chance. His eyes trailed down to the path when he spotted a black wallet and he picked it up, looking up to see a man a few steps away from him.

Goro called out to him, “Excuse me, sir!” He picked up the pace when the man didn’t even turn around and he called out again, “Sir, please wait!” The man seemed to be lost in his world and Goro grit his teeth, is this dude deaf or something?

So he walked up to the man and gripped his forearm, “Sir, I said wait—” and that is when he realized the burn. The wind blew wildly past them as the man turned around in shock and Goro was met with steel grey eyes looking like he had watched the dead came back to life. And for the first time in the 15 years of his life, Goro felt like he can stop running.

Because the universe has given him his answer.

**Author's Note:**

> _Oh, I let out all those words, and I finally felt your touch,  
>  And yet despite all that, I said nothing at all  
> Oh, I love you so, Vivi  
> I love you so, Vivi  
> Say goodbye to me, Vivi, since that's all our love comes to_
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
